


When the Skye Falls

by Suspiciouspencil



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Angst, Bad Cooking, Cooking, Cuddling & Snuggling, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Food Poisoning, Found Family, Healing, Hurt/Comfort, Illnesses, Jemma Stays on Earth Where She Belongs, Jiaying Sucks, Mentor/Protégé, Mother-Daughter Relationship, Nightmares, No Monolith, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Talking, Trauma, Vacation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-12
Updated: 2021-01-12
Packaged: 2021-03-16 10:00:45
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 17,244
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28704828
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Suspiciouspencil/pseuds/Suspiciouspencil
Summary: “It’s not an order. The next few weeks, or months, or however long you decide to take off for is your vacation time, and I’m not going to try to make you spend it any way you don’t want to.” Coulson stood and took a few steps closer to her. “Skye… it’s crazy sometimes, how much she reminds me of you.” He looked away, his eyes sad and far away. “They all remind me of us, before…” he didn’t finish. He didn’t have to.“Before life happened,” Melinda finished solemnly. “You’re afraid this is her Bahrain.” Her voice was quiet and rough as she looked at him. When he finally looked her in the eye, May suddenly felt very old. And tired. God, she was tired.--After the tumultuous events of the first two seasons of AOS, May takes Skye to a secluded safe house so that she can try to process it all. Nightmares, an exhausting case of food poisoning, and bonding over their complete incompetence in the kitchen leaves the two closer than they ever thought they would be.A Melinda May & Skye|Daisy Johnson centric fic. Since this is set immediately after the season 2 finale, Skye is referred to as Skye for the majority of the fic.
Relationships: Jemma Simmons & Skye | Daisy Johnson, Melinda May & Skye | Daisy Johnson
Comments: 39
Kudos: 126





	When the Skye Falls

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys! Thanks for reading. This is my first fic, and I'm really happy with how it turned out! This idea came to me during my nightly make-up-scenarios-to-fall-asleep session and I just kept adding to it, so I decided to write it down! Any feedback, negative or positive, would be really appreciated. Enjoy!

May rapped lightly on the open door to Coulson’s office, causing him to look up from where he was leaning over a handful of papers on his desk.

“Come on in,” he said, straightening and flashing her a small smile.

“You wanted to see me?” she asked.

“I did,” he confirmed, crossing to the other side of his desk. “I wanted to talk to you before you left. You head out tomorrow morning, right?” He perched on his desk, clearly still slightly off balance. It had only been five days since the fight with the Inhumans had left him without his left hand, and while he was getting better accustomed to the loss, May knew him almost as well as she knew herself. She could tell he still wasn’t quite used to operating with one arm strapped to his chest. His question, however, diverted her attention from her own thoughts.

“Yes.”

“And you’re headed to Fury’s safe house? Full kitchen, balcony, three bedrooms?”

“Yes,” she said again. He nodded, contemplative. May stood silently, waiting for him to elaborate. He simply continued to sit on his desk, apparently lost in thought, which prompted her to ask, “Is that the only reason you called me up here? So I could confirm travel details that you’re already aware of?”

She was sure he had no problem detecting the irritation in her voice as she wondered why he appeared to be wasting both of their time. He sighed.

“I’ve been thinking about everything that’s happened around here lately. Specifically, Skye,” he said, looking exhausted, which he probably was. They all were. “I mean, getting her powers, finding her parents, both of them turning out to be total psychopaths, and then losing them… it would be enough to knock the wind out of a seasoned agent.”

May couldn’t help but agree. The whole ordeal with her parents had left Skye wilted, like a flower no one had bothered to water in weeks. After she returned from visiting the mind-wiped Cal that morning, May had barely gotten a glimpse of the girl’s ashen face before she ducked into her room, which she’d yet to leave as far as May knew. However, May had a feeling of where this particular train of thought was going, and she wasn’t sure how she felt about it. Instead of asking, she simply raised an eyebrow, which prompted Coulson to continue.

“I think she needs a break. To get away, clear her head, grieve,” Coulson said, still being annoyingly vague.

“Coulson,” May snapped, to which he raised his hands in surrender.

“It’s just an idea,” he said, sounding exactly the same as he had all those years ago when he tried to convince her and Clint that putting shaving cream in Natasha’s pillow would be a good April Fool’s day prank. She rolled her eyes. “It’s not an order. The next few weeks, or months, or however long you decide to take off for is your vacation time, and I’m not going to try to make you spend it any way you don’t want to.” Coulson stood and took a few steps closer to her. “Skye… it’s crazy sometimes, how much she reminds me of you.” He looked away, his eyes sad and far away. “They all remind me of us, before…” he didn’t finish. He didn’t have to.

“Before life happened,” Melinda finished solemnly. “You’re afraid this is her Bahrain.” Her voice was quiet and rough as she looked at him. When he finally looked her in the eye, May suddenly felt very old. And tired. God, she was tired.

“Maybe not quite as bad,” he said, shaking his head lightly. “But you’ve seen her. She’s trying to put on a brave face, but with everything she’s been through, she’s like a ghost. An echo of the girl she was when we first brought her on this team.”

“And you think I’m the one who can bring that Skye back?” May asked, sure he was finally losing it. “Coulson, she’s barely looked me in the eye since everything went down.” He shook his head.

“No,” he said. “I think that girl is gone. She’s seen too much, been through too much darkness to ever be that girl again.” He looked at her, a gleam in his eye. “But if there’s anyone who can help her figure out how to carry that darkness, it’s you. The way we used to help each other through.” He smiled wistfully. “Don’t you remember the times when Fury practically forced us to take a few days off? He’d send us up to the cabin and make us ‘rest?’” Melinda snorted.

“I seem to remember coming back more exhausted than when we’d left,” she reminded him, raising an eyebrow.

“Yeah, well,” he said fondly. “Four days of drinking away our hangovers probably wasn’t the most effective use of our time off.”

“Tell that to Romanoff,” May smirked, leaning against Coulson’s desk. “She drank more than the rest of us combined, and we didn’t see her hungover once.” Coulson laughed, shaking his head.

“We hated her for that, remember? Going along her merry way while the rest of us were trying not to puke,” he gave her a loaded look. “But we always came back a little lighter, didn’t we?”  
\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

She’d told Coulson she’d think about it. Quite frankly, May thought he was full of shit.

_If there’s anyone who can help her figure out how to carry that darkness, it’s you._

Give her a break. Aside from being unbelievably cheesy, it was also completely untrue. May might have her fair share of darkness to carry, but that certainly didn’t make her the expert on overcoming trauma. After all, after Bahrain, she’d completely cut herself off from everyone and everything she’d loved to exist in a totally isolated depression.

However, May could understand why Coulson wanted to avoid letting that happen to Skye. More importantly, May didn’t want to let that happen to Skye, and she was her SO. It was her responsibility to make sure it didn’t happen. May couldn’t help but think about the fact that her time off was supposed to be a chance to get away from those responsibilities, but she knew Skye was more than that.

When she’d decided to take the girl under her wing and become her SO last year, she knew full well what she was signing up for. Mentoring Skye didn’t have business hours. It was hours in the gym, sharing her morning Tai Chi, making sure she ate, and going over strategy, tactics, and mind-numbing procedures. It also meant being there for her when the sky fell, helping her hold up the pieces, and teaching her how to carry the burden on her own. And when May thought of the bright young woman she was training, she realized she had never found it in her to mind.

Which is how she found herself standing in the base’s lab, watching Simmons fuss around Skye, who was clearly aggravated to find herself back in the patient’s chair.

“Jemma!” Skye groaned as Simmons stuck her once again with a needle, extracting a vial of blood. “It’s been like a week. Can we please be done with this now?” she begged, the puppy dog eyes she was giving Simmons slightly offset by the dark circles under her eyes.

“Skye, your body was drained of almost all of its nutrients,” the scientist said, clearly exasperated. “You’re definitely on the mend, but I just want to make sure-”

“I know, I know,” Skye sighed, the fight leaving her all at once at the reminder of how she had become a patient in the first place.

“I just want you to be okay,” Simmons said sincerely, placing her hand on Skye’s shoulder. Skye glanced up at her, smiling softly.

“I know. Thank you.”

“Of course,” Simmons glanced up to see May waiting in the doorway, hands behind her back. “May! Did you need something?” Skye looked decidedly less pleased to see her and quickly averted her eyes, the same way she’d been doing all week.

“I need to speak with Skye,” May said, not missing how the young agent tugged on the sleeves of her sweater at the mention of her name.

“Oh!” Jemma said, glancing down at Skye, then back at May. She may not have been a trained spy, but she was obviously picking up on the tension between the two of them. “Right. Well, I’m going to pop over to my desk and get started on analyzing this sample. Everything else about your physical looked good, but I want to be absolutely sure. I should have the results in a bit.”

Simmons smiled at them both, then scurried away to her station, leaving the two agents in silence. May studied Skye and couldn’t help but notice how small she seemed. Luckily, most of the color had returned to her face and Coulson said she’d been steady on her feet that morning, but her dark under-eyes keyed May in to how little she’d been sleeping

“I take it you’re not a fan of being Simmons’ pincushion again?” May asked, breaking the silence. Skye looked up, and May was pleased to see a small, slightly cautious smile.

“Definitely not,” she said. “I haven’t felt this coddled since…” she trailed off, both of them knowing that she was referring to those few awful days she was in quarantine after San Juan. Skye looked uncomfortable and reached for the glass of apple juice on the table next to her, but didn’t drink any.

“I get it,” May said, nodding her head towards the scientist working away on the other side of the lab. “Jemma is one thing, but Dr. Simmons… she’s driven us all up the wall at one point or another.” Skye nodded, looking over at her friend.

“Yeah,” she said fondly. “The only thing that makes it bearable is knowing that it’s because she cares. A lot.”

May leaned her hip against the desk next her, crossing her arms over her chest. She paused a moment, weighing her next words.

“She’s not the only one,” May said pointedly, giving Skye a meaningful look. Skye ducked her head, clearly unsure of how to respond to that.

“You said you wanted to talk?” she asked, obviously changing the subject.

“I did,” May took a deep breath. “I spoke with Coulson earlier. He said he thinks you need a break. A chance to get away from all of this, clear your head. I agree with him.” Skye’s jaw dropped, and her face quickly turned to one of indignation.

“What, so you’re benching me?” she spluttered. “Seriously? I-is this because of me siding with the Inhumans? Or because-”

“Enough, Skye,” May interrupted, putting her hand up to silence the girl. “No one is benching you. Maybe try letting me finish instead of assuming you know what’s going on without all of the information?” It was a reminder of both her tactical training as an agent and as May’s teammate. Skye looked slightly embarrassed, but nodded. “Coulson suggested,” she emphasized. “That it might be a good idea for you to take a break. You’re not benched, but you have been through a lot recently, and any field agent who's been through the things you have would be advised to step away from the field for a little while.”

“Like you?” Skye murmured. She looked cautious as she took in May’s slightly confused expression. “Coulson told us you were taking some personal time. Headed to the beach? Perhaps with one very attractive psychologist you used to be married to?” May rolled her eyes, but couldn’t help the twinge of satisfaction she felt. If Skye was feeling comfortable enough to poke at her relationship status with Andrew, things were likely on the right track.

“Funny,” she replied, shutting down the subject. Just because she was a tad bit glad Skye was asking, didn’t mean she was going to disclose. She and Andrew were definitely closer than they’d been since she left him, but she didn’t plan on going back to him anytime soon. That door had closed long ago, and May was fine leaving it that way. “I’m going to a safehouse. I had planned on going alone, but…” she shrugged. “There are three bedrooms. And it’s a nice spot, far away from everything. Pretty good view too.” Skye took a moment to process what she was saying, and was clearly surprised when she understood.

“I- are you asking me to come with you?”

“Not quite,” May said, standing up. “I’m telling you that I think you need to take some time to process everything that’s happened. Spending a few weeks away from S.H.I.E.L.D, eating real food, sleeping,” May stressed, once again taking note of the girl’s exhausted demeanor. “Might be a good way to do that. I leave tomorrow morning at eight am. Think about it.” She said, turning and leaving Skye in the lab with the same parting words that Coulson had left her with.

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Skye returned to her room once Simmons cleared her, sitting on the edge of the bed and staring at nothing. She didn’t want to leave. This team was her family, and this base was her home. She didn’t see how walking away from both would help her.

The age old fear of not being wanted was slowly spreading through her veins, pooling hot in her stomach and making her feel nauseous. She had been worried about this possibility as things settled after the battle between S.H.I.E.L.D and the Inhumans. She’d turned her back on her people, fought them, and betrayed them. It only made sense that they wouldn’t want her around after that.

Most of the team had been treating her like it hadn’t even happened, though. She’d expected to be treated with hostility, distrust, or at least some level of anger, but the team’s response had been suspiciously lacking. Instead, they seemed concerned. Wary of hurting her, not of being hurt by her. She figured she could understand them giving her some leeway, given the gut-wrenching results of finding her parents, but the foster child in her was still waiting for the other shoe to drop. For them to wake up and realize her betrayal was unforgivable, that she had too much baggage, that she wasn’t worth it.

And now this. May inviting her on a vacation? What the hell was she supposed to make of that? On the surface, it seemed like exactly what she had feared. They were trying to get rid of her, ensuring that the base and the rest of the team was safe and comfortable. On the other hand, it didn’t seem quite right. Subtlety wasn’t May or Coulson’s MO. She was fairly certain that if they’d wanted her gone, they’d have been upfront about it instead of cooking up some scheme to manipulate her into going.

Skye groaned and fell back on her bed, running her hands over her face. She kept replaying her fight with May over and over in her head, wanting to smack herself every time she remembered throwing May back with her powers. May of all people she had expected not to forgive her, certainly not without her earning it. After hours upon hours spent together training, they’d worked to develop a trust stronger than almost any she’d experienced, perhaps barring Coulson. And like an ungrateful idiot, she threw it all away for people she barely knew.

So why was May now trying to help her, if that was really what this was about? Why would May want to be alone with her for several weeks? Skye couldn’t fathom it. She didn’t really like being alone with herself at the moment, but she didn’t really have a choice. That being said, if there was a chance to repair her relationship with May, to earn her trust and forgiveness, she had to take it.

Before she could talk herself out of it, she grabbed her phone and texted May. _I’ll meet you in the hanger at 8?_ Quickly pressing send, she grabbed a bag and started stuffing her meagre belongings inside. She was shoving a pair of worn pajama pants in when she heard her phone buzz.

7:45.  
\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The quinjet dropped them off at an airfield, which was about an hour away from the safe house. Naturally, May drove. After about 20 minutes, she passed Skye one of the hair ties on her wrist, and they both tied their hair back before rolling down the windows. Skye rested her head on the open window and closed her eyes, breathing deeply as the cool air blew across her face. She must’ve fallen asleep, because the next thing she knew, May was patting her arm to wake her up.

“Are we here?” Skye asked, blearily looking around, surprised to find that they were in the parking lot of what appeared to be a farmers' market.

“We’re getting groceries,” May said, leading the way into the market. Skye followed, the two of them walking along rows upon rows of fresh fruits and vegetables. Skye couldn’t help but immediately be drawn to the bakery section, practically drooling as she looked out over fresh pumpkin bread, homemade cookies, and some unknown pastry that looked flaky and sweet. She reached out to grab what appeared to be mini apple pies, only for May to slap her hand away.

“Hey!” she yelped, rubbing her hand. “What was that for?” May simply grabbed a basket and gave her a look. “I thought this was a vacation.” she grumbled.

“Just because we’re taking a break from work doesn’t mean you get to eat a bunch of junk,” May said, looking down at what appeared to be a list in her hand. “If you do, it’ll be that much harder to get back into training when we get back.”

Skye had to recognize that May had a point, plus the casual reminder that this was a temporary break didn’t hurt. It didn’t stop her from discreetly grabbing a loaf of the pumpkin bread. May checked the list again and grabbed a few onions, then ripped it in half and passed it to Skye.

“Make yourself useful,” she ordered. Skye looked at the list, slightly surprised by the ingredients.

“You know, I was under the impression that you couldn’t cook,” she said, her voice taking on a slightly teasing tone. “FitzSimmons and I enjoyed finding out that you sucked at something. I’d hate to have to disappoint them.”

“I don’t,” May said dryly, continuing to grab veggies and throw them in the basket. “But I’m tired of eating the frozen crap in the Playground, so I asked Coulson for a few simple recipes he thought we could make.”

“Woah, sorry, we? You are aware that before SHIELD I lived in a van, right? Which did not have a kitchen?” May didn’t respond. “As such, I also cannot cook.”

“Yes, I am aware,” May gave her a knowing look. “And I certainly haven’t forgotten the time you tried to make pancakes and almost gave us all food poisoning.”

“You’re making my point for me.”

“I’m not going to be your personal chef,” May reasoned. “We’ll figure it out. Now go put that crap in the basket and get to work. I’ll meet you at the checkout in twenty.” Skye smiled, tossing the loaf in the basket before grabbing her own and beginning to shop.

Forty-five minutes later, they were on the last stretch of the drive, the car loaded with groceries. There had been a slight issue, given that Skye had grabbed two bottles of her favorite wine, and May had immediately rejected her pick. May grabbed her favorite kind, as well as another she liked, which prompted Skye to grab another, and somehow they ended up with six bottles of wine in their baskets. They considered for a moment, then figured they’d drink it eventually and bought it all anyway.

Skye couldn’t help but notice how beautiful it was as they drove down a long dirt driveway before finally making it to the house. It was a small, two story cabin with a kitchen that connected to an open living room. The floor, walls, and ceilings were made of wood, and there was a large bookcase next to the stairs. It was furnished with a couch and several squishy, worn looking chairs, as well as a fireplace and a large TV. The living room and kitchen had floor to ceiling windows that looked out over a secluded lake and the large, snowy mountains behind it.

Overall, the house was overwhelmingly cozy. As they put away the groceries, Skye took in the little decorations, decorative throw pillows, and personalized mugs that lived in the cupboards.

“What is this place?” she asked May, who was tucking away the last of the food.

“Safe house.”

“It doesn’t seem like a safe house,” Skye stated, holding up a ‘World’s Best Mom’ mug. “It feels homey. Like someone actually lived here.” May looked at her, considering.

“That’s because someone did,” she admitted. “This used to be Fury’s mom’s house.”

“What?” Skye hadn’t been expecting that. It was honestly strange to think of Fury as having a mom. He was just one of those people who seemed to have popped into existence, eyepatch and all.

“She died a few years ago. Rather than sell the place, Fury decided to use it as a safe house.”

“Huh,” Skye looked around, taking in the view. “I can see why. There’s hardly anyone around for miles. We even have the lake to ourselves.” Not that she minded. The less people around, the better.

“Not entirely,” May pointed out the window at the water. “If you go around that bend down there, there are a few houses along the shore.” Skye gave her a questioning look. “Fury used to bring us here when things got heavy. His mom made really good lasagna.”

“Us?”

“Coulson, Hill and I. Romanoff and Barton too, sometimes.” Skye looked at her in disbelief, unable to imagine her mentors casually hanging out with two Avengers, the former director of S.H.I.E.L.D., and his mother. She wanted to press for details, but as she opened her mouth, May cut her off, “You can go ahead and pick which room you want, but the master’s mine.”

Skye knew May well enough to know the conversation was over, at least for now.

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

As evening approached, the two found themselves in the kitchen attempting to muddle through Coulson’s recipe for spaghetti. Skye had definitely over salted the water for the pasta, and May managed to cut herself while attempting to dice an onion.

“You’re literally a highly trained spy,” she teased, grabbing a napkin while May ran her hand under the water. “You definitely know how to handle a knife in combat, so...”

“Which you should keep in mind,” May warned, grabbing her hand back from Skye’s grip. The smile faded from Skye’s face, and she turned back to the stove to stir the pasta, which didn’t really need stirring.

Eventually the food was finished, and they decided to eat outside on the porch to watch the sunset. Dinner wasn’t half bad, and they each had a glass of wine to sip on instead of talking.

Skye couldn’t help but be slightly upset with herself as she watched the pink sky fade to indigo. She knew better than to read too much into May being short with her; it was just how she was. That being said, Skye knew herself well enough to know that she was somewhat fragile at the moment, even if she’d never want anyone else to think so.

She figured that May and Coulson had been right to be concerned, because she really was struggling to cope with her mother’s betrayal and death. She’d finally felt like the ground was beginning to solidify after Ward’s betrayal, and then one insane thing after another had happened and now she was a little bit of a mess. It had felt like whiplash. She gained superhero powers, S.H.I.E.L.D. turned on her, she found her parents, then she turned on S.H.I.E.L.D., her mom betrayed her, and then was promptly killed by her father, who no longer remembered her.

So, maybe more than a little bit of a mess.

Later that night, Skye sat on the edge of her bed, head in hands. She was tired all the way down to her bones, but she knew better than to try and sleep. Coulson and May had both pointed out that she seemed exhausted, and that was because she was. Over the past week, her attempts to sleep had mostly been futile. She would lie down in bed, and like a movie reel the memories would flash through her mind.

Good and bad moments with her parents would stew in her head until she couldn’t tell the difference between the two. Cal’s victims’ blood all over the floor, laughing with them at dinner, being manipulated by her mother, learning she’d been wanted all along, the horrible sensation of being drained of life by her own mom. Good tainted bad, bad tainted good, just like it had with Ward. She’d remember Trip, his smile, his laugh, and the searing image of him crumbling away into stone and dust. It was like she was trying to torture herself. Assuming she did manage to fall asleep, nightmares would plague her sleep, leaving her restless and grieving.

But the bed was so comfortable, and she was emotionally, mentally, and physically drained. So she put on comfy pajamas, washed her face, and climbed into bed. As predicted, she spent God knows how long lying there trying and failing to avoid thinking. Eventually, she drifted off into an uneasy sleep.

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Skye. It’s okay. You need to wake up. Skye, wake up.”

Skye jolted awake, feeling cold and sweaty at the same time, her breathing heavy. She was startled to see a figure leaning over her in the dark, and she reflexively jerked away.

“Wha-”

“It’s okay,” the figure leaned away and flicked on the lamp, the warm light illuminating May sitting on the bed next to her. “I think you were having a nightmare. You were shaking the house.”

Skye groaned, sitting up and rubbing her face with her hands, unable to avoid noticing that her cheeks were wet with tears.

“Crap, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to.”

“It’s fine,” May assured her. “The house can take a couple quakes.” She paused. “It’s not the house I’m worried about.”

Skye said nothing, instead focusing on fighting back tears and controlling her breathing.

“Do you wanna talk about it?”

Skye shook her head. If she talked, she’d cry. May nodded, simply sitting there for a moment while Skye composed herself.

“You know, there’s hardly any light pollution around here, so the night sky is kind of amazing. I think I’m gonna make some tea and sit on the porch for a bit.” May gave her a small smile. “Wanna join?”

“May, it’s the middle of the night,” Skye said, raising an eyebrow at the older woman. May simply continued to look at Skye knowingly, both of them knowing full well that May had had no intention of going outside to stargaze at 4 am before Skye’s nightmare. Skye sighed, relenting.

She went into the bathroom to wash the sweat and tears off her face while May made tea, and the two met out on the porch. May handed her a steaming mug of tea and one of the throw blankets from the living room, and she smiled gratefully, wrapping herself in the soft blanket.

They sat on the lounge chairs, looking out at the sky, the stars and sliver of moon reflecting on the lake. May had been right. She felt like every star in the galaxy was out tonight, and it was breathtaking. The night air was cold, the blanket not quite enough to fight off the chill, but the tea helped. Skye didn’t mind. The cold air was soothing and invigorating at the same time, and it helped to clear away the lingering effects of her nightmare.

“That happen a lot lately?” May’s soft voice interrupted the silence, somewhat startling Skye. She shook her head.

“I haven’t made things shake in my sleep since the beginning, when I was totally out of control. I thought I was past that.”

“Not what I meant.”

Skye said nothing for a moment, seeming very far more interested in her tea than in the conversation. She was already feeling vulnerable enough without disclosing the frequency and intensity of the nightmares that had been plaguing her.

“Why do you ask?” she deflected. May rolled her eyes.

“You know why.”

“I really don’t,” Skye shot back, sitting up straight and looking May dead in the eye. May didn’t respond, so Skye continued to push. “Yesterday, you said Simmons wasn’t the only one who cared. Meaning you do?” May actually looked offended at that.

“You really don’t know the answer to that question?”

“I do. I just…” Skye trailed off and shook her head, turning back to watch the rippling water, effectively ending the conversation. May sighed, letting it go for now. “It’s still early. You should go back to bed.”

“It’s already almost five. I’ll just start Tai Chi. ”

Skye felt slightly guilty and very stupid for robbing May of the rest of her sleep. May likely needed a good night’s rest as bad as she did. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to-”

“Skye, it’s fine,” May said, standing up and grabbing her empty mug before reaching over and taking Skye’s. “You, on the other hand, should try and get some more sleep. You still look dead on your feet.”

She felt like it. The six or so hours she’d gotten hadn’t been anywhere near enough to make up for the bone-weariness she was carrying. That being said, Skye wasn’t sure she’d be able to stand going back to bed and being left alone with her thoughts, so she shook her head. “I’m okay. I’ll just stay and watch you, if that’s okay?”

May looked torn, like she was considering forcing Skye back to bed, but she knew all too well how impossible sleeping after a nightmare could be, so she simply nodded. “I need to change. I’ll be back in ten.”

“Make sure you brush your teeth!” Skye called out as May walked past back into the house, which earned her a sharp flick on the side of her hand. “Ow!” she cried, bringing her hand up to rub the spot, but truly it hadn’t hurt that much. She smiled slightly. Teasing May was something she’d always been good at.

As Skye waited for May’s return, she felt her exhaustion cause her eyelids to droop, so she decided to pick up her blanket and move over to the porch’s couch instead. This way she could lie down while she watched May.

A few minutes passed, however, and Skye could tell she wouldn’t be able to fight sleep for long. Eventually, she heard May return, followed by the feeling of a second blanket being draped over her, helping to fight off the chill. She was too tired to open her eyes and say thank you, so May must’ve thought she was already asleep.

Skye was surprised to feel May’s small, warm hand push her long bangs off of her forehead and rest on her head for a moment, her thumb stroking her forehead. The gesture was so gentle and so maternal that Skye felt tears well up under her closed eyes. After a few moments, her hand withdrew, and Skye heard May walk away to begin stretching. Before she could even really decide how she felt about what had just happened, sleep overtook her, and she was out.

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Several hours later, Melinda sat curled up on one of the chairs outside, reading, thankful that the morning had finally started warming up. She’d been happy to see that Fury had kept his mom’s collection of Stephen King novels, and had plucked one particularly dog-eared copy of The Shining off the shelf. She’d already read it three times, and was pretty sure that much of the wear on the book was from her past visits to the house. Coulson had been surprised to learn that she was a re-reader, but she found the suspense of the book had never really worn off.

Eventually, she noticed Skye stirring out of the corner of her eye, obviously stiff from sleeping out in the cold, but finally looking somewhat rested. She sat up, the blankets falling off of her, and looked over at May, bleary eyed and yawning. May smiled slightly at her messy hair and puffy face, her messy appearance both somewhat amusing and endearing.

“What time is it?”

May grabbed her phone and checked, noticing that she had a missed text from Coulson.

_C: How are things going?_

_M: Fine._

_C: Will you let me know if that changes?_

_M: Maybe. Stop hovering._

“May?” Skye’s voice jolted her back into the present.

“Oh,” she said, checking the time again. “Sorry, it’s 8:47.” Skye nodded, yawning again.

“Okay,” she said, standing and gathering the pile of blankets up in her arms. “I’m gonna go shower and get some breakfast. Did you eat?”

“Yeah. There are some leftover hard boiled eggs in the fridge if you want a few.” May offered up, and Skye gave her a look. “What?”

“Hard boiled eggs, huh?” Skye gave her a mischievous smile, leaning against the doorframe. “I’ll add it to the list of things you can make without poisoning us.” She smirked. “It’s a very short list by the way. Like, miniscule.” She held up two fingers with very little space between them. “Very tiny.”

“Hahaha,” May said dryly. “Keep it up, and I’ll poison you on purpose. And I’d like to remind you that your list is even shorter, Ms. ‘Lived-in-a-Van.’”

“Oh, wow,” Skye scoffed. “At least I have a decent excuse for being a disaster in the kitchen! What’s yours?” Rather than respond, Melinda picked up a throw pillow and threw it at Skye, who shrieked and dodged. Skye laughed, a simple, happy sound that made warmth pool in May’s stomach. “Okay, okay. I’m going inside now. Goodbye.”

Skye’s soft footsteps faded, leaving May alone on the porch. She tried to return to her book, but found she couldn’t focus. Her thoughts kept returning to the early morning’s conversation, and it was making her extremely uncomfortable. She hated talking about feelings. There was a reason she spent years behind carefully constructed walls after Bahrain, not even able to let Andrew inside.

The past two years with the team had worn those walls down more than she ever thought they could be, but that didn’t mean they were gone. It was hard enough for her to admit to herself how much she cared for her trainee, let alone tell Skye how she felt about her. Yet, without May even realising she had been doing it, she discovered that the bright young woman had managed to slip inside those walls.

But if Melinda was being totally honest with herself, she knew that wasn’t entirely true. She knew what she had been doing the day she offered to be Skye’s SO, or at least she had a gut feeling.

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

_They’d been at The Playground for almost two weeks. Fitz had woken up four days ago, and if she was being honest, it had almost been easier when he was in a coma. Watching Simmons cry next to Fitz’s bedside while he was barely able to indicate that he even knew who she was was torture. Coulson had begun carving that damned alien writing into the wall, and Skye had refused to move her things from the Bus into a bunk on the base. May and Coulson had decided to let it go for the time being, recognizing that sleeping on the bus offered the girl a drop of stability in a sea of uncertainty._

_May stopped by the lab to check in on FitzSimmons, finding Fitz asleep and Jemma looking half dead in a chair next to him. She didn’t look up when May entered, and she had no idea if Simmons had even registered her entrance until she put a hand on her shoulder, causing the young scientist to jolt out of her reverie, staring at May with tired and heartbroken eyes._

_“Simmons,” May said softly. “When was the last time you slept?” Jemma opened her mouth, but no sound came out, so she simply shook her head and shrugged, tears welling up in her eyes. She quickly turned her head to look back at Fitz, and May sighed. “Come on,” she said, pulling Simmons up out of the chair. “You need to sleep.”_

_“No,” she said, the word coming out strangled. “I have to be here when he wakes up. I can’t leave him.”_

_“You aren’t leaving him,” May reasoned, her voice firm and steady. “The best thing you can do for him right now is take care of yourself.” Jemma stood at May’s insistence, but didn’t move any further away from the bed._

_“I don’t want him to be alone,” she whispered, looking down at his sleeping face._

_“He won’t be,” May and Jemma looked around to see Coulson standing in the doorway, his usual coat and tie missing. “I’ll stay with him. You go sleep.”_

_“I-”_

_“That’s an order, Agent Simmons,” Coulson stepped forward, putting his hands on her upper arms. “This team needs you, Jemma, and you’ll be useless if you’re exhausted.” A few tears leaked out of her downcast eyes, avoiding Coulson’s, but she nodded._

_“You’ll come get me if anything changes?”_

_“I’ll come get you if I feel that I need to,” he promised. Jemma seemed less than pleased with his response, but she relented anyway. May was certain she heard a few muffled sobs coming from the young woman as she left the lab, but there was nothing any of them could say to her that they hadn’t already said. There was nothing that could make this better._

_“Keeping the man who did this to them in our basement without murdering him has been the biggest exercise in self control I’ve ever experienced,” Coulson said, dropping into the chair Simmons had vacated, his shoulders slumped._

_May didn’t respond, instead leaving and making her way down to the gym. She needed to punch something, and if it wasn’t a punching bag, it would be Ward. When she got down there, however, she saw Skye already beating up on the bag._

_May stopped in the doorway, watching her punch the bag, her stance totally incorrect. Skye’s back was turned, blocking May from seeing her face, but she could hear Skye letting out strangled sobs as she hit the bag. She couldn’t really blame her, seeing as she too had come down to the gym to let out her rage and grief. That being said, she wasn’t positive she wanted to deal with Skye’s._

_Before she could decide whether to stay or go, Skye stopped hitting the bag, steadying it with two hands. Her angry crying quieted, sounding much more heartbroken as she let her head hang down, and suddenly May couldn’t find it in her to walk away._

_“Your stance is off,” she said, walking towards the girl. Skye jolted, whipping her head around to look at May before turning back around and not-so-discreetly wiping her face._

_“Thanks,” she said, straightening her shoulders but making no effort to fix her position. May pretended she didn’t hear how clogged her voice sounded._

_“May I?” she asked, raising her hands. Skye hesitated, then nodded. May grabbed her shoulders, rotating them slightly, then lifted her arms and kicked her feet apart slightly. “There. More power, better balance. It’ll help keep you from getting knocked on your ass.”_

_“Thank you,” Skye sounded genuinely grateful this time, and she gave May a small, watery smile._

_“I thought Ward was training you. Proper positioning was the first thing he should’ve gone over.” Skye dropped her smile at the mention of his name, shrugging and turning back to the bag. “It’s possible he was training you incorrectly on purpose so that you’d stay an easy target.”_

_“That’s why I changed my stance. He showed me how to do it the same way you just did it,” Skye said, throwing harder and harder punches at the bag as her frustration grew. “But then I thought, what if that was a trick, too? So I did the opposite of what he showed me, because wouldn’t it make more sense for him to train me incorrectly so I’d stay defenseless?” May could tell Skye needed to let this out, so she simply remained silent while she ranted. “But no! That would be too freaking simple wouldn’t it? Instead, he was actually training me to fight correctly! So that I could defend myself! Because, according to him, he actually does care about me and only me, which is somehow way more twisted and gross than if he’d been pretending with me like he’d been pretending about everything else!” Tears had begun streaming down Skye’s face again as she hit the bag over and over again, and May wasn’t sure if they were from rage or grief. Likely both, she figured. “Everything about him is so fucking confusing!” She shouted, throwing her whole weight behind one final punch that sent the bag swinging before stumbling back, almost falling on her ass._

_May grabbed her by the arms and steadied her, holding her upright as she sobbed, bringing one wrapped hand to cover her eyes. She supposed that most people in this situation would hug Skye, but it had been so long since she’d participated in that kind of physical contact, let alone initiated it, that she had a feeling she’d likely just make Skye more uncomfortable. Instead, she settled for leaving her hand on Skye’s upper arm, squeezing tight._

_“I trusted him,” she choked out, shaking her head. “I knew I shouldn’t. My whole life has been one lesson after another that trusting people is exactly how you let them screw you over, and I did it again anyway.”_

_“That I can relate to,” May said quietly, surprising herself with her honesty. “This line of work especially will teach you two vital and complete opposite lessons: 1) Trust will get you killed, and 2) Trust is the only thing that makes this life livable.” Skye gave a wet laugh._

_“So what the hell do we do?” May was silent for a moment_

_“It’s going to take a long time to put the pieces back together. The fall of S.H.I.E.L.D.,” May sighed. “It’s not the first betrayal I’ve gone through, but it sure as hell has been the worst.” She squeezed Skye’s arm again. “But you can’t turn your back on this team. We’re all we have left. We have to trust one another, or else there’s no point in being here.”_

_“How the hell do I do that?” Skye whispered, desperately searching May’s eyes for an answer she wasn’t sure she could give._

_“We can do it together,” May promised, her voice nearly as quiet as Skye’s, and she let her next words roll around in her mouth for a moment. She knew what her next offer could mean, what she would be promising Skye. She knew what it would mean to Skye, and she couldn’t walk away or give up on her. She needed someone to stay, and if she offered to be that person now, she would have to be that person as long as Skye wanted her to be. As she looked into the young woman’s eyes, she was surprised to realize that she wanted to be that person. “You need a new SO. If you’re willing to put in the work, I can be that for you.” Skye’s eyes widened._

_“You’d do that?”_

_“It won’t be easy,” she promised. “However hard Ward worked you, I’ll be harder. There will be days when you hate me, when you’re sick or tired, when you want to quit. I won’t stop you if you do, but I won’t take you back either.” She stepped forward, trying to impress upon Skye the seriousness of her choice. “You have to want this, badly. And if you do, if you’re willing to do something with the fight I’ve seen in you since day one, I can make you into the best damn agent since-”_

_“The Black Widow?” Skye guessed, eyebrows raised. May shook her head._

_“Since me.” Skye smiled. “Think about it. Let me know when you’ve made up your mind.”_

_“No need,” Skye said, straightening her back and lifting her chin, determination in her eyes. “I’m in.”_

_“Don’t make this decision lightly,” May warned._

_“I’m not. I made the decision months ago. I want this,” she insisted. “I want to be the best, and if you’re serious, I want to learn from you.” May looked into her eyes, searching for any sign of hesitation or doubt. She was glad that she found none._

_“Good. Be here tomorrow morning at 5:30.”_

_“Let me guess,” Skye joked. “Ten pushups for every minute I’m late? That was his rule.” May raised her eyebrows._

_“No. You’re late and we’re done.” With that, May turned and left to go inform Coulson that she might finally have a bit of good news._

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

As the days passed, the two settled into something of a routine. Skye tended to sleep in later than May, finally catching up on the sleep she’d been depriving herself of for weeks, thankfully without any more nightmares. They swam in the lake, concocted several edible meals, and somehow ended up deeply invested in The Great British Bake Off.

They also hiked several trails nearby the house, including one that led up to a waterfall. Skye opted to avoid swimming in the icy water, but her mentor had other ideas. As Skye stood next to the edge of the deeper part of the river, May pushed her in, rolling her eyes at Skye’s squealing about the temperature.

“WHY,” Skye shouted, shivering and pushing her sopping bangs out of her eyes.

“We’ve gotta get you more used to the cold. You never know when you’ll get left in a bay for five hours.”

“You’re never letting that go, are you?”

“No.”

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Several days later, Skye was floating on her back in the shallow area of the lake outside the cabin, kicking lightly to keep herself afloat. She was totally relaxed for the first time in what felt like forever, when suddenly she stood up, thinking.

“What?” May asked from where she was wading a few feet away.

“Just wondering…” she trailed off, before effectively coming back to Earth. “Sorry. I was just thinking… You remember when I first got my powers, and Coulson sent me to the Hulk cabin?” May nodded. “Well, there was this one instance… I’m not even totally sure how it happened because I was totally out of control, but I was like… moving the water.” May raised her eyebrows.

“With your powers? How?”

“I’m not sure,” she admitted. “Jiaying and I sort of figured that the specifics of my powers are that I can control the vibrational frequencies of things around me. Like, every little particle is constantly moving, and I can stop it, or make it more intense.”

“So the thing you do when you’re able to push someone,” Skye squirmed slightly, uncomfortable with remembering how she threw May. “That’s you controlling the vibrational frequencies of what? The air?”

“I think so,” she sighed, rubbing her hands over her face. “I’m a high school drop out. The sciency stuff behind my powers… I didn’t really have time to get a good understanding of what exactly I’m doing. It’s more of a feeling.”

“Physical or emotional?” May questioned, coming closer. Skye considered for a moment.

“Both, I guess?” she answered, remembering all too well her early attempts to control the quakes.

“Well, if you’re able to manipulate water, that could be a huge tool.” May said, always the teacher. “You should practice.”

“I don’t know,” Skye ran her hand over the surface of the water, feeling each particle.

“Look, I don’t know much about Inhuman powers,” her SO reminded her calmly. “But I do know what it’s like to be too afraid to risk learning more about your abilities. You can’t let that fear stand in your way.”

“It’s not just that,” Skye insisted. “I don’t want to hurt you.”

“So don’t,” May said simply. “You are in control. This is your gift to use. Control it.”

Eventually Skye nodded, taking a deep breath. She held out her right hand, closing her eyes and tuning in to the vibrational energy of the water around her, the same way she had on the cliff with Jiaying. She felt the now familiar pull in her veins and harnessed the energy, focusing on the feeling of the water in front of her.

When she heard May breathe in sharply next to her, she opened her eyes to see water rising up in front of her, swirling the same way it had as it poured out of the sink in Dr. Banner’s cabin. She focused on pulling it up, up, up and soon it towered over the two of them, before letting it go, causing it to collapse back into the surface of the lake.

“Wow,” Skye said as the two of them stood side by side in the water, staring at the spot where the water tower had disappeared. She looked at May, who she thought looked slightly impressed.

“Keep practicing,” was all she said before she swam over to the dock, pulling herself out of the water and laying down on her stomach on a towel. Skye rolled her eyes but continued to practice.

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“There’s a storm coming in,” she heard May remark a while later from where she was sunbathing on the dock a little ways away. “We should go in soon.” Skye turned over, standing on the rocky bottom to see that May was right. Large, dark storm clouds were looming over the mountains in the distance, and she had a feeling it wouldn’t be long before it made it to them.

“Looks like it’s gonna be a doozy,” Skye said, swimming over to the dock.

“Did you just say doozy?” May didn’t lift her head, but Skye could hear the mocking in her voice as she jumped up, climbing onto the dock.

“Shut up.”

“You’ve been spending too much time with Coulson.”

“I will throw you in the lake,” Skye threatened.

“Hmph,” May finally lifted her head, resting on her forearms and looking at Skye. “I’d like to see you try.” Skye flicked water at her, wrapping herself in her towel and nudging May with her foot.

“Weren’t you the one who said we should go inside?”

“I didn’t mean right now,” May reasoned, lying back down. Skye sighed.

“Fine, get struck by lighting. I’m gonna go shower.”

“I’ll be fine,” she called. “Even if the storm is a doozy.” Yeah, she wasn’t hearing the end of that one anytime soon.

By the time she got out of the shower, it was late evening, and the storm had rolled in but not opened up yet. The sky was a dark gray that was almost black, and the strong wind was whipping the trees around. She opened the door to the porch, the wind hitting her immediately and blowing her wet hair, causing her to shiver. She walked to the edge of the balcony anyway, leaning against the railing and taking a deep breath.

“What are you doing?” Skye turned her head as May joined her, her hair also wet from her shower.

“I like storms.” May nodded, leaning against the balcony next to her and watching the storm grow more powerful. “It’s so intense. It’s like the wind could just pick me up and carry me away.” Skye thought for a moment, contemplating. “This is kind of how it felt when I first got my powers, and I was totally out of control. It was like the intensity and power of this storm was running through my veins, and I was that tree over there trying to control it instead of getting blown down.”

She pointed to a maple tree down below whose branches appeared to be on the verge of getting ripped off. May looked at her, and she was grateful that the darkness likely made it hard for her SO to read her expression.

“I remember how scared you were,” Skye didn’t look at her, but she nodded, gripping the bannister. “I can’t imagine trying to contain something like that, let alone control it.” She was quiet for a moment, before softly saying, “I’m not surprised you managed it, though. You’re resilient. Stronger than most.” Before Skye could decide how to respond, May covered her hand with her own. “I’m not surprised, but I am proud. You should be too.”

“Thank you,” Skye said quietly, surprised by May’s unusual emotional honesty. “That means a lot. Especially from you.” May nodded, and the two turned back to watch the storm, and Skye felt the need to lessen the slight heaviness between them. “You know, the past few days, being up here with you, there’s something really important I’ve realized about you. It’s not something you let people see often, and it means a lot that you’ve shared this part of yourself with me.” She could practically feel May stiffen while standing next to her, and she tried not to smile.

“Oh?” she asked apprehensively, clearly uncomfortable.

“You are really short,” she laughed, and May stepped back slightly, seeming surprised, amused, and affronted all at once. “Like, I’ve always known you’re short, but without your boots on, you are absolutely tiny, and that’s coming from me.”

“Okay,” she laughed, obviously relieved that Skye had not forced her to be any more emotionally vulnerable than she already had been. “You’re gonna regret that.”

“Sure thing, bite-size,” Skye teased as she turned and walked back inside. She realized that may have not been the best decision when May smacked her upside the head.

“Remember,” she warned, smirking. “Never turn your back on your enemy.” Skye laughed.

“Yeah, yeah. Dinner? I’m starving.”

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Skye was reading alone in her room after dinner when her phone started ringing, and she was pleasantly surprised to see that it was Simmons. “Hey Jemma,” she answered, setting her book aside and leaning back on her pillows. “Everything okay?”

“Fine! Yes, everything’s fine,” she said quickly, her lack of conviction once again making Skye wonder how she’d survived those months undercover in Hydra. “How are you? How’s May?”

“Good, we’re both good.”

“Good. That’s good.”

Silence.

“Simmons?”

“Yes?”

“Are you sure you’re okay?”

“Of course, I’m completely fine.” Skye raised an eyebrow, even though she knew her friend couldn’t see it. Before she could say anything, however, Simmons’s floodgates seemed to have opened. “It’s just that Fitz and I have just come back from dinner, and it was lovely, like really lovely and Skye he looked so handsome and I was a complete mess - would you believe I knocked over an entire glass of red wine - and of course he was so sweet about it, he’s always been so sweet, but it felt so different this time because-”

“Simmons,” Skye interrupted firmly, not able to keep the amusement out of her voice. “Breathe.”

“Right, yes, of course,” she took a deep breath before starting again, much slower this time. “Sorry, it’s like I said, I’m a complete mess. I just… after everything we’ve faced in the field, who’d have thought this could scare me so badly?”

Skye smiled. “And what exactly is ‘this?’”

Simmons was quiet for a moment, before responding softly, “I think… I told him that maybe there was something to talk about, you know, about what he said to me at the bottom of the ocean.”

“And?”

“Oh God, Skye, I think,” Jemma breathed shakily. “I think I’m really falling for him, and it’s terrifying.”

Skye’s heart swelled, she laughed lightly. “Well I could’ve told you that,” she teased.

“Skye!”

“Sorry, sorry,” she apologized, still smiling as she leant back against her headboard. “It’s just… if I’m being honest, I saw this coming from the day I met you two stupid geniuses. I’ve just been waiting for you both to figure it out!”

“He’s my best friend,” Jemma argued, as if she were trying to convince Skye to understand that this was a bad thing. “What if this ruins everything? What if he thinks he cares for me, you know, that way now, but then I do something completely un-endearing and he realizes it was a mistake, or I break his heart, or he breaks mine, and our friendship is completely ruined, and I lose everything?”

“Jemma, stop,” Skye insisted, sitting straight up. “There’s no way that happens. You’re just scaring yourself.”

“Well, it’s working! What if we risk everything, and it’s not worth it? What if we care too much, and all we get is more hurt?” Skye thought back to Ward and her parents. Wasn’t that exactly what she’d done? Care too much and have nothing to show for it but more scars? But she knew her two friends were different. After ten years of being best friends, they had to be.

“Look, I have never met two people more obviously meant to be together than the two of you,” Skye said earnestly. “You’re FitzSimmons! There’s no universe where you two loving each other could be a mistake. Just… you have to trust yourself, and you have to trust him.” She stood, walking around her room, needing Jemma to understand how much she meant what she was saying. “You’d never hurt one another, at least not on purpose. And either way, you two are strong enough to get through it. You’ve proven that a dozen times over, okay?”

“Okay,” Simmons gave a little laugh. “When did you get all wise?”

“Aw thanks,” Skye said, sitting back down on her bed. “It’s the trauma.” Jemma laughed loudly, and she couldn’t help but giggle too.

“In all seriousness, how are you?” she asked, her amusement giving way to sincerity. Skye felt her laughter fade away as well. She knew her friend deserved some honesty after her vulnerability, but then Simmons had always been more of an open book than Skye, and she wasn’t sure she was ready to return her openness.

“I’m okay,” she said honestly, before choosing to deflect rather than elaborate. “May and I have mostly just been hiking, swimming, cooking a bit-”

“Cooking? You two?” Jemma interrupted incredulously, making Skye laugh. “And you haven’t managed to poison yourselves?” Skye continued to giggle, snuggling back down in her covers, grateful for her friend.

“Not even a little bit.”

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Unfortunately, however, it would seem that Jemma had spoken too soon, or maybe that she’d jinxed her, Skye thought as she leaned over the toilet, another wave of nausea overtaking her. She’d woken up a little while ago, her stomach cramping and body aching with chills. She’d barely had a moment to think before she’d had to run to the bathroom, barely making it in time to vomit violently into the toilet. She’d felt better for a few minutes, but it didn’t take long for the nausea to kick back in again, leaving her shivering on the bathroom floor as she waited for the inevitable.

“Skye?” May called, knocking on the bathroom door. “You okay?” Skye groaned. She’d been hoping she would be able to avoid waking her again, especially since May had her own bathroom and likely wouldn’t notice that Skye was up at 2:00 am. Apparently her luck wasn’t quite that good.

“I’m fine May,” she called back, trying to keep the shivering out of her voice. “Go back to sleep.” She prayed she would listen and go away. She’d already woken her up with nightmares several times, and she didn’t want to bother her anymore than she already had.

“You sure?”

“Positive.”

“Hmm,” May hummed, sounding doubtful, but her footsteps faded as she walked away. Skye took a deep breath, trying to be grateful that she’d left her alone, but she couldn’t quite manage it. Whatever. Skye had nearly always been left to fend for herself when she was sick as a child, she’d be fine. If she could handle the one tragic time she’d gotten ill when she lived in her van and spent four hours locked in a Denny’s bathroom, she could handle this.

She tried to remind herself of that bile rose up in her throat and she heaved again, not hearing the door open as she puked. She felt cool hands lift her hair and hold it away from her face, one of them moving to stroke her back in soothing circles.

When she finished, May handed her a cup of cold water, the first gulp of which she swished around in her mouth before spitting it into the toilet. She then drank eagerly, giving a pitiful whine when the cup was pulled away from her.

“Not too fast,” May said patiently. “You’ll make yourself sick again.”

“I said I’m fine,” Skye leaned her head against the toilet seat, wishing she weren’t so cold.

“I used to say the same thing to my mom. Of course she saw right through that, and would always come back up with a cup of tea and some water,” May placed the mug in Skye’s hand, who relished the warmth and shivered, taking a deep sip. “Come on. Brush your teeth and let’s get you back to bed.” She grabbed Skye’s arm and helped pull her up.

“You don’t have to do this,” she tried to insist. “I can take care of myself.” Her message was somewhat undermined by the fact that she was trembling so badly she could barely stand.

“Yeah, yeah,” May said, helping Skye back onto the bed. “You’re a big, tough girl who doesn’t need any help. Where are your warm clothes? You’re shaking like a leaf.” Skye rolled her eyes, but pointed to the closet, from which May extracted a soft, chunky sweatshirt and tossed it over to Skye. “Put that on. I’m gonna go grab a thermometer, some Tylenol, and probably a trash can.”

Before Skye could protest again, May was gone. She felt small and stupid, being coddled like this, and she was terrified that May would get annoyed with how needy she’d been. She’d never wanted to be a burden.

By the time May got back, she’d just gotten settled under the covers, which helped with the chill less than she hoped they would. May handed her the thermometer, placing the trash can on the ground and sitting on the edge of the bed. When it beeped, Skye wasn’t too surprised to see that it read 101.7 degrees.

“Great,” she groaned, taking the Tylenol May had handed her. Once she’d swallowed, she burrowed back under the covers, freezing and exhausted.

“Drink the rest of that tea and get some sleep,” May ordered, standing up. “Wake me if you need me, got it?” Skye nodded, already half asleep, despite her discomfort.

Unfortunately, she’d been asleep for what felt like thirty seconds when her stomach revolted again. She spent an eternity groaning in discomfort as the nausea built before she was finally able to get the worst of it over with. She immediately fell back into an uneasy sleep, which was interrupted three more times by her restless stomach.

Each time it grew harder to fall back asleep due to the intensity of her symptoms. She was so cold her whole body hurt, and no matter how many blankets she layered over herself it wasn’t enough to calm the violent shivers. Her head was pounding and her throat had begun to burn from the amount of stomach acid she’d thrown up.

She was embarrassed to admit, even to herself, that she wished she weren’t alone. She felt about five years old as she silently wished someone would hold her, keep her warm, tell her it was going to be okay. Someone like a mom. A few times she registered May coming in and bringing her more water or adding another blanket onto her pile, but for the most part she seemed to respect Skye’s wish to be left alone; a wish she found herself sorely regretting.

At some point, she picked up the trash can, hobbled into the bathroom, and emptied the can, rinsing it briefly in the bathtub. She mentally promised that she’d disinfect everything when she was over this bug or whatever it was.

She tried to make her way back to her room, wanting nothing more than to collapse, but unfortunately the three minutes that she was standing had taken all the energy out of her weakened body. She grew dizzy, and before she could stop herself, she fell to her knees, one hand on the wall in an attempt to steady herself.

She so badly wanted to lay down right there, and finally she gave in and did just that. She figured that it wouldn’t be long before her stomach woke her up again anyway, so what the hell did it matter? She hovered in a state between asleep and awake for a while, too cold and uncomfortable to truly sleep.

“Skye!” Footsteps thundered down the hall as if someone was running, followed by hands grabbing at her. “Skye, can you hear me?” Leave me alone, she thought, but it came out as more of a groan when she tried to say it. “Skye, wake up. We need to get you back to bed.”

“Juss leave me,” she muttered, not wanting to go with the hands that were pulling her up. They should leave her alone. Alone was better. No one could get tired of you and leave if you just pushed them away first. And she was so tired. “Go ‘way.”

“I know you don’t want to get up, but you can’t stay on the floor.”

Who did the voice belong to?

Skye turned over to see a face above her. It must be the face the voice belonged to. It was a pretty face. Skye thought she might have lifted her hand to touch it, but she wasn’t sure her hand worked.

She knew that face. Who did it belong to? She wasn’t sure. It made her feel warm, though. Warm and safe and familiar.

“Mom?” That made sense. It felt right. She wasn’t sure it was, though. “Mom.”

“What did you-” the woman’s voice was hushed, and she sounded upset. “Skye, it’s May. Do you know who I am?” May. Right, that was May. Skye nodded. “Get up Agent Skye. That’s an order.” Order. She knew she couldn’t disobey an order. Especially not from that voice. She managed to get on her hands and knees, and the hands helped support her. She wasn’t sure, but she thought they were moving, and then there was a bed underneath her, and then the pretty face swam into view in front of her.

“Damn it, we need to check your temp again. Open your mouth.” She did, and then there was something cold in her mouth. “103.1. Shit. I’m calling Simmons.”

“No,” Skye groaned, feeling slightly more lucid. “No Simmons.”

“Your temp is over 103 degrees, and you’re confused. I’m calling her.”

“S’late.”

May ignored her, holding the phone up to her ear.

“It’s practically morning. She’ll be more pissed if we don’t call than if we do,” she reached out, as if she were going to touch Skye’s face, but brought her hand back after a moment’s hesitation. “I shouldn’t have left you for so long.”

Skye was too tired and out of it to answer, and instead she just watched May on the phone. She was obviously speaking to Jemma, but she couldn’t be bothered to pay any attention to what they were actually saying. After a few minutes, May hung up and sat on the bed, placing one hand on Skye’s hip.

“She said it sounds like food poisoning or a stomach bug, and there’s not much we can do other than try and bring the fever down. She said if it reaches 103.5 she’s flying out here. I’m getting you some more Tylenol, okay?” May moved to leave the bed, but before she could stop herself, Skye shot out a hand and grabbed her arm.

“Don’t leave,” she whispered, her voice cracked and dry, and she felt tears well up in her eyes. She would never have said it normally, would never have had the courage to, but the fever and the puking and the cold achiness had left her feeling raw and open. She couldn’t find it in her to care. She just didn’t want to be alone anymore. “Please don’t leave me.”

May froze, clearly shocked by Skye’s request and the desperation that laced it. After a moment, she seemed to come back to herself.

“I’ll be right back,” she said, rubbing Skye’s arm. “I’m just going to go get you some food and something to stay hydrated. I’ll be back, okay?” Skye really didn’t want her to go, but she was too exhausted to fight, so she released May’s arm.

While she was gone, Skye’s muddled thoughts swam around in her head, not making much sense. She wanted her mom. No, not her mom. Her mom broke her heart. She realized she’d called May “mom,” which was completely embarrassing, but she supposed she could simply blame it on the delerium. She wanted a mom, though. She wanted someone to care. To stay.

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Melinda took a deep breath as soon as she left Skye’s room, leaning against the wall and feeling a bit of a mess herself. She should have stayed with her overnight, but she hadn’t quite realized how bad off she was. Plus, if she was being honest with herself, the idea seemed intimate in a way she wasn’t sure she was still capable of.

She didn’t think Skye remembered most of it, but she’d gone into the room several times throughout the night, making sure Skye drank and that the girl was covered with blankets, even emptying the trash next to her bed once or twice. It wasn’t anything she hadn’t done before. From injuries on missions to hangovers at the academy, May was no stranger to caring for sick or hurt friends.

This, however, was different in a way she was only just beginning to understand.

Finding Skye passed out on the floor in the hallway had scared the crap out of her, fear defying logic, and the situation that hadn’t been at all helped when Skye called her “mom,” the memory of which still felt like a gut-punch. She knew there was no chance Skye would have done so had she been at all lucid, but May couldn’t help but wonder if perhaps she would have wanted to.

She had to be reasonable, though. She wasn’t the girl’s mother. Her mother had just attempted to destroy S.H.I.E.L.D., murder Skye, and then died at the hands of her father. Skye was a wreck, and all rational thought had clearly abandoned her in the wake of her illness. It was only natural for her to lean on Melinda. The thing that was concerning her, however, was how little she minded.

The desire to nurture, to protect, to mother had all been stamped out like the remnants of a fire the day she fired that bullet into Katya’s head. She would never again allow herself to be destroyed the way she was in the wake of Bahrain, and part of that had meant shutting away pieces of herself. Pieces that were too soft to survive such a wound had to be cut off, so that the whole may survive.

And yet here she was. But then again, she’d recently realized that Skye was the one thing capable of waking those pieces back up, making her realize they’d never truly been gone. From the moment she went on a personal mission with Coulson to try and uncover the girl’s parentage, all those years ago, Skye had always been capable of making her break her rules.

Somehow, without meaning to, May had grown to care, truly care, about Skye. She had held on to her, begging her not to leave. And as she headed into the kitchen to make her the same tea her mother made her when she was ill, or hurt, or sad, she made her decision. If Skye needed her to be there in the wake of a devastating series of losses, she would be there. She would do what no one outside of their team had ever bothered to do for Skye. She would stay.

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Here,” Skye opened her eyes as May sat on her bed again, handing her pills and a cold bottle of Gatorade to wash them down with. “Drink as much as you can, and then try to eat some toast.” Skye obliged, clumsily going through the motions. She swallowed the pills, slowly sipped on the drink, and managed a few bites of toast. “I have tea and ice chips. Which do you want?”

“Tea,” she croaked, likely because she was still cold, although May noticed that her shivering had lessened slightly, which she took as a good sign. May handed it to her, and Skye took a few sips before handing it back. “Thank you.” Skye whispered. “Sorry about earlier. That was weird.”

“Earlier?”

“Me clinging to you and begging you to stay like a five year old.” May was shocked to see tears forming and spilling from Skye’s eyes. Skye turned her head away, obviously embarrassed, and she put a hand on her arm.

“It’s okay. No one wants to be alone when they’re sick.” May tried to reassure Skye, but she refused to look at her. “But that’s not it, is it?” Skye remained silent, quickly wiping away her tears and trying to compose herself.

Melinda sighed. She hated this, hated that Skye was so hurt and desperate, hated Jiaying and Cal for coming into her life before leaving in the most heartbreaking of ways, which left Skye even more broken than she’d been before.

Without thinking about it, because if she thought about it she’d talk herself out of it, May got up from where she was sitting on the bed and moved around to the other side, climbing on top of the covers next to Skye.

“What are you doing?” Skye asked, sounding confused and tired. She wasn’t completely sure how to respond to that particular question.

“Staying,” May replied, settling into a position that was reclined on her side next to the girl, propping her head up on her hand. “If that’s okay.”

Skye nodded, turning over so that she was lying on her stomach, her head turned on the pillow to face Melinda. After a moment, she reached out a hand and hovered over Skye’s head. “May I?” she whispered, and Skye nodded, so she placed her hand on her head, stroking Skye’s hair. Her eyes fluttered closed after just a few moments, and May noticed a few tears leak out and moved her hand down to Skye’s back, rubbing gently against her soft pajama shirt.

“It’s raining?” Skye mumbled, so quietly she almost didn’t hear her. May listened for a moment before hearing the rain pattering against the roof and the window, realizing that she’d been so preoccupied with Skye that she didn’t even notice the storm.

“Yeah,” she said quietly, a rumble of thunder following her statement, seeming eager to prove its presence.

“Good,” her trainee muttered, half asleep. “Like rain.” May smiled, placing her hand on Skye’s face, stroking her face with her thumb.

“Go to sleep Skye,” she ordered gently. Lord knew the girl needed her rest.

“Stay?”

“Yes, Skye. I’ll stay.”

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Skye woke up several hours later to sunlight streaming in through the window, feeling warm for what felt like the first time in ages. As she became more aware of her surroundings, she realized that May was asleep next to her.

Like, right next to her.

May was asleep on her back, head turned away from her, and Skye had somehow ended up curled up on her side, almost on top of her SO. They weren’t cuddling exactly, but she had definitely moved into May’s personal space in her sleep, and she was grateful she had the chance to scoot back to her side of the bed before May woke up.

Honestly, she wasn’t too surprised she’d curled into May in her sleep. She was radiating warmth, and Skye’s fever had made her so cold, so it made sense that she gravitated towards the older woman.

And if she was willing to admit it to herself, May’s physical warmth wasn’t the only comfort she’d benefitted from.

Unfortunately, she wasn’t quite ready to admit it to herself, so instead she sat up, hoping not to disturb May. She’d interrupted too much of her sleep lately. Skye reached for her phone, noticing that she had several messages from Jemma, a couple from Coulson, and a few from both Mack and Fitz. Even Bobbi and Hunter had reached out. It seemed her illness had motivated all of them to check in with her.

Skye smiled, feeling warmth spread through her. It was nice to be reminded that her team still cared about her, especially given how scared she’d been that she had lost them after her poor judgement about the Inhumans and her mother.

Skye reached for the Gatorade, drinking the remainder of the drink that was now warm, but she didn’t really care. She also decided to take her temperature again, annoyed when the beeping woke May up.

“Seriously? That woke you up?” She asked as May ran a hand over her face.

“Decades of experience will teach you that any stimulus could be a threat worth waking up for,” she replied, sitting up and leaning against the headboard. “Especially if it’s one of Barton’s stupid ass pranks.” Skye smiled. “What’s your temp? And what time is it?”

“101.2 degrees and 11:14 a.m.,” Skye responded, pleased that her temperature had reduced so drastically in the past 6 hours.

“Better,” May said. “Still not great, but I can let Simmons know she can calm down. Getting some uninterrupted sleep probably helped. I haven’t woken up this late in years.”

“To be fair, you were up half the night taking care of me.”

“True,” May agreed. “And when I finally fell asleep, you just had to wake me up by practically lying on top of me.” Skye felt her cheeks grow warm.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to-”

“If I’d minded, I would’ve pushed you off of me,” she promised, getting up from the bed. “You need food. Soup okay?”

“Yes please,” Now that her stomach had finally begun settling, her appetite was starting to make itself known.

“Okay,” she pointed to the half drunk water on Skye’s bedside table. “Drink all of that. You still have a fever and need to stay hydrated.”

“Yes mom,” Skye teased, causing both of them to still. It had been a joke, but for some reason it felt weighted. She waited for May to say something, trying to think of a way to ease the tension.

“Watch the attitude,” she warned, but Skye could tell by the glint in her eye that she wasn’t 100% serious. “You being sick doesn’t mean I won’t kick your ass.”

Skye believed her.

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

May made them both grilled cheese sandwiches with canned tomato soup, and Skye couldn’t help but inform her that Coulson’s grilled cheese was better, which earned her a pillow to the head, but it was worth it. In the late afternoon, Skye’s temperature had gone down to 100.2, which was finally enough for May to let her take a shower. It was definitely the best shower of her life, but she was still tired enough that she had to sit down in the tub for a few minutes.

She was exhausted and had resigned herself to sleeping in the sweaty sheets that were on her bed, but when she trudged back into her room, she found that May had already put fresh sheets on. Skye tried not to read too much into the warm feeling the gesture produced. She was half asleep already and still full from lunch, so despite it being barely past 5:00, she crawled into the clean bed and passed out.

When she next opened her eyes, the clock on her table read 7:12, and she had to do a double take when she realized it meant 7:12 in the morning. Damn. She’d slept for 14 hours.

As she threw the covers off of herself, though, she realized how much it had helped. She finally felt more or less back to normal, albeit starving, and her temperature was at a comfortable 99.3. She threw on a sweater and a pair of socks to help ward off the chill, went to the bathroom to brush her teeth, and entered the kitchen. Looking out the window, she saw May focused on her TaiChi on the porch, so she went out and knocked on the doorframe, causing May to look up at her.

“You look better,” she noted.

“I feel better,” Skye agreed. “Sorry to interrupt. I was gonna make some breakfast. Want anything?” May finished her pose and stepped off of her yoga mat, reaching down and rolling it up.

“That depends,” she smirked. “Are you going to give me food poisoning?”

“Okay, we don’t even know if it was food poisoning, and if it was, it was definitely your fault.”

In lieu of responding, May simply smiled, which Skye found altogether unsettling, and the two went inside. May scrambled eggs with cheese and mushrooms while Skye buttered toast and made tea, and she was grateful that they made it through the meal without any injuries or serious illness.

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The following days followed without anything exciting happening. Skye continued to recover, and hardly 48 hours after she first felt sick she was good as new, and she kept her promise to herself and cleaned the whole bathroom, throwing open the window for good measure.

Something had shifted between May and her while she was sick, and she couldn’t decide if she wanted to bring it up or not. Skye couldn’t help but feel like she should address the fact that she’d called May “mom,” or that she’d begged May not to leave her, or that she had actually stayed the night in Skye’s bed. However, she was afraid that speaking of it might pop the serene little bubble they’d been living in.

One night, about a week after her bout of suspected food poisoning (which was definitely May’s fault), Skye grabbed one of Coulson’s idiot-proof recipes off of the kitchen table for dinner. They spent the next 30 minutes chopping and mixing and stirring until they produced a relatively decent potato and kielbasa soup. Rather than sit at the table, they ladled the soup into the two largest mugs they could find and ate on the couch, swathed in blankets.

“We’re getting better at this,” Skye noted, happily slurping the hot soup while the heavy rain pounded against the cabin’s roof and windows. “This is actually really good.” May nodded in agreement.

They finished their dinner in relative silence, content just to enjoy the other’s presence. Eventually they chose a movie to watch, and Skye stretched out her legs, plopping her feet in May’s lap. May gave her a look that instantly made her retract them, suddenly self conscious.

“Sorry, I just-” she floundered, feeling stupid. “You didn’t seem to mind when I was sick, so I just… thought-”

“I hate feet,” May explained, stretching out her own legs and resting her feet on the coffee table. “But you can put your head on my lap if you want to lay down.” Skye looked at her, surprised, but May didn’t say anything else. Skye contemplated for a moment before shifting on the couch, laying her head down on her SO’s legs. They ended up having to put a pillow under her head so she could still watch the movie, but May was resting her arm on Skye’s side, her other hand occasionally reaching up and playing with her hair.

About halfway through the movie, during a muted commercial break, something about the silence compelled Skye to murmur, “Thank you.”

“For what?”

“Everything,” she said softly, pulling her sleeves up so that she could grip them, offering herself some meagre sense of grounding. “For bringing me up here, for taking care of me while I was sick.” She thought about sitting up so that she could look May in the eye, but that seemed far too intimidating, so she remained on her side with her head in her mentor’s lap. “And just… for everything. Being my SO, caring about me, when not even my own mother…” She trailed off, not expecting the emotion that overwhelmed her.

Skye did sit up then, leaning back on the couch and wiping away the tears with no small amount of frustration. May didn’t pull away, which Skye appreciated, and she simply rested one hand on her leg and waited for her to continue.

“It just sucks, you know?” It was one hell of an understatement, but she really was struggling to find the right words. “You told me you hoped she was everything I hoped she would be, do you remember?” She looked over at May, who nodded with a solemn expression. Skye nodded slightly, feeling tears well up with even more force than before. “Well she was.” She choked out, before the dam opened up and she sobbed, “And then she wasn’t.”

And that was it. Skye covered her face with her hands and cried, really cried in a way she hadn’t yet allowed herself to. She felt one of May’s hands on her back and the other on her arm, pulling her in, and she didn’t have the willpower or the desire to resist. If May was offering her comfort as she finally allowed herself to feel the devastation and the complete and total heartbreak that was raging through her, then by God she was going to soak it up for as long as May would allow her to. Skye let her hold her tight, her head tucked into her SO’s shoulder as May stroked her arm, her back, her hair.

And she cried.

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

May thought it would feel awkward to hold someone like this after so long, but honestly, it felt like the most natural thing in the world. The young woman seemed to fit into her grasp like they were made for this, and she had simply melted into Melinda’s arms as soon as it had been offered.

“I just feel so stupid,” Skye whispered brokenly from where her head was nestled into May’s neck before pulling back to look at her with teary eyes. She wasn’t sure how to respond, but Skye kept talking after a moment, so thankfully she didn’t have to. “I have learned over and over and over that everyone I let in will hurt me, or leave, or die. I knew it was stupid and dangerous to think they’d be different, I just wanted to believe it so bad.” She finished with a whisper.

“What about us?” May asked softly, trying not to feel a little hurt. “This team, we’re all still here. Well,” she corrected herself, unable to ignore that not even their team had been safe from the loss and hurt that Skye feared. “Most of us are. Coulson, FitzSimmons. Even Bobbie Hunter, and Mack decided to stick around.” Melinda smiled slightly, squeezing Skye’s knee. “Me. I’m still here.” She reminded her young mentee, somewhat startled to see her eyes well up with even more tears.

“And what did I do?” she asked roughly, clearly upset with herself. “I hurt you. I turned on you. On the whole team. For a woman I’d known for like, two weeks.”

“She was your mom, Skye,” May insisted, upset with herself for not realizing she was still blaming herself for that. 

“And you’re-” Skye cut herself off, breathing sharply and looking away, wiping her wet cheeks with a shaking hand. May felt her heart drop into her stomach, and as she looked at the heartbroken, intelligent, witty, kind, funny young woman in front of her, she was surprised to realize how desperately she wanted to hear the rest of that sentence.

“I’m what, Skye?” she whispered. Skye shook her head, still not looking at her, and Melinda realized that it wouldn’t be that easy. Skye had probably already been more vulnerable than she’d ever intended, and not just tonight. Her deeply personal and tragic relationships with her parents had unravelled in full view of their entire team, their entire organization, and May couldn’t even imagine how that had felt. She understood that if she wanted Skye to continue to open up to her, she had to offer something real in exchange.

“Andrew and I,” she started, afraid to speak the words. She didn’t think she ever said them before. There had been no one she wanted to tell that didn’t already know. “We were trying to have a baby. Before Bahrain.” Skye finally looked at her, seeming to grasp the importance of her confession. “The choice was between that child and a room full of soldiers. I still believe it was the right one, but…”

“Oh my God, May,” Skye whispered, grief clouding her features. “You didn’t… because of Katya?”

“I was pretty messed up after that,” she admitted. “I wasn’t in any place to take care of a child anyway, but… I didn’t think I deserved them. Didn’t think I could be a good mom.”

“May, you’d be a _great_ mom,” Skye assured her, gripping her hand tightly. “I’m so sorry I threw that in your face.” Tears filled her eyes once again, and May thought she’d never seen someone cry so much in one sitting. Not true of course, given that most of her friends were in this business, and this business had a bad habit of chewing people up and spitting them out.

“It’s okay,” May said, and she meant it. There was nothing anyone could say to her that she hadn’t told herself a hundred times over.

“You could still do it,” Skye said, looking down. “You could still have kids, be a mom. I can totally see it.” A ghost of a smile passed over her face. “You’d be that no phone, no TV, 7:30 curfew kind of mom.” May glared at her, which made Skye smile for real. “You’re kind of proving my point with the face.”

May rolled her eyes. “I think it’s too late for me,” she said honestly. Skye opened her mouth to respond, but she cut her off. “Besides, you and FitzSimmons are more than enough for me to worry about.” She said, flicking Skye’s leg. “You especially.” Her tone was teasing, but she could tell Skye picked up on the sentiment behind the statement.

Skye looked her in the eye, and May wondered what she was contemplating so intensely.

“I’m just so mad at myself,” she whispered. “I was so happy to find my mom that I…” She took a shaky breath, and May felt like she should probably brace herself, while at the same time desperately hoping Skye would say what May thought she was going to say. “That I ignored the one I already had.”

Without her consent, May felt emotion cause her throat to close up, and she was afraid she might actually cry, and that was the last thing she wanted to do. Part of her wanted to close herself off, push Skye away, and pretend that wasn’t the most amazing thing she’d ever heard. The other part knew that if she shut herself off now, her relationship with Skye might never recover.

And after all, May knew what she was doing when she’d brought Skye to this cabin, knowing full well that the girl was a bit of a wreck. She’d enhanced it when she’d cared for and stayed with Skye while she was sick, and she’d solidified it when she brought up Bahrain tonight. She’d opened the doors, and she’d be lying if she said she wasn’t quietly glad Skye had finally walked through them.

“It’s okay,” she said once again, struggling to find the words to convey how she felt. “I didn’t tell you about Bahrain because I wanted you to feel bad. I just wanted…” May sighed, frustrated. “I want you to understand why sharing how I feel is not something that comes easily to me.” She explained carefully. Skye nodded.

“I get it. Seriously, I do,” she looked down at where her knees were pressed against May’s leg. “Just… am I being too much?” She asked, searching May’s eyes for any trace of rejection. She hoped Skye found none as she shook her head and smiled softly. Skye’s face softened in response, a watery, hopeful smile finally breaking through her tears. “Okay.”

May stood and walked over to the kitchen, grabbing a few napkins and a glass of water for Skye and taking a moment to compose herself as well. Skye’s words bounced around in her head, filling her with such an unexpected warmth she thought she might burst, and she was only a little surprised when a smile broke out on her face. Despite the fact that her back was to Skye, she brought a hand up to her face to cover it, and she was slightly more surprised to realize that her vision was blurring, and soon the tears were spilling over, wetting her cheeks and her hand.

She felt lighter than she had in years, like something a dream she’d given up on ages ago had finally come true. And in a way, wasn’t that exactly what had happened? Without the constant distraction of her all consuming job, May had finally had a chance to realize just how much her young agent had wormed her way into her heart.

She jumped slightly when she felt a small hand rest on her shoulder.

“May? Are you okay?”

She must’ve been standing there for longer than she thought, if Skye had felt the need to come check on her. May turned to face her, not even bothering to hide the fact that she was crying, and when Skye stepped forward and wrapped her arms around May’s neck, she couldn’t find it in herself to mind. Instead, she immediately brought her arms up to wrap around Skye’s waist, resting her chin on the young woman’s shoulder. The two simply stood there, holding each other in the dim light of the kitchen. May couldn’t remember the last time she’d simply stood and hugged someone like this. Certainly not since Bahrain. 

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

They remained like that until the refrigerator started beeping, causing Skye to realize that May had left the door open and all the cold air was flowing out.

They pulled apart, both sniffling slightly, and Skye pushed the door shut. May handed her a few napkins, keeping a few for herself, and the both quickly wiped their faces and blew their noses. They avoided one another’s gaze, neither particularly comfortable with the emotionally charged atmosphere.

Eventually, Skye caught May’s eye, and she couldn’t help but snort at the sight of her usually stoic mentor red eyed and puffy. May glared at her, which looked even more ridiculous, and Skye couldn’t hold back her giggles. The more May glared, the harder Skye laughed, until eventually May couldn’t hold a straight face anymore, and Skye tried to do the same, and then they were both gone. What they were laughing at, neither of them really knew, but it felt so good after so many tears that neither of them really cared.

“Come on, come on,” May said, finally composing herself and giving Skye a little shove towards the living room. “We still have the rest of that movie to watch.”

“What’s the point?” Skye argued playfully, but walking with May to the living room anyway. “We’ve missed like a solid 40 minutes of it.”

“And whose fault was that?”

“Look, if you’d agreed to just rent it, we wouldn’t have had to sit through commercials, and then I wouldn’t have had the opportunity to have a total emotional breakdown.”

“So it’s my fault you can’t time your breakdowns well?”

“Yes. You’re supposed to be training me on this stuff.”

“Sorry, ‘Having Emotional Breakdowns at the Correct Time’ isn’t actually a part of S.H.I.E.L.D. training.”

“Honestly, I feel like in this line of work it should be.”

“There’s some validity to that statement.”

Despite their bickering, the two sat back down on opposite ends of the couch. They were physically farther apart than they had been before, but that had never seemed to matter less.

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

EPILOGUE

The last two weeks of their trip weren’t nearly as eventful, which Skye was ultimately very grateful for. One night of extreme emotional vulnerability was more than enough for her, but she couldn’t pretend she wasn’t happy with the results. She and May didn’t speak further about their conversation that night, but she didn’t like they needed to.

Not much changed on the outside, but things between them felt even easier and more natural than they had before. May was more likely to place a hand on Skye’s back while they were cooking, and Skye enjoyed splashing May while they swam in the lake. Once they’d even fallen asleep on the couch together while watching a movie, and when Skye had woken up at some point in the middle of the night with May’s arm around her shoulders and her cheek on her head, she’d simply snuggled in closer and gone back to sleep.

When Skye thought about it, she almost couldn’t believe they’d been lucky enough to find one another. A woman who’d always wanted a child and a child who’d always wanted a mother. They were both a little broken, but they were broken in a way that allowed them to fit together like two pieces in the puzzle that made up their team.

After a month away, she was ready to get back to the rest of her team, which she’d really missed. Not to mention she’d gotten so used to the chaos of her usual lifestyle that she was eager to get back to work. That being said, Skye couldn’t help but feel slightly melancholy as their vacation grew to a close. If going back to the real world meant popping the cozy little bubble she and May had been living in, she wasn’t sure she was ready to do it. She didn’t want to lose the closeness they’d created these past few weeks. She wasn’t sure she could stand it without her healing heart breaking again.

She finally mustered the courage to bring it up to May the day before they left to go back home. One of the last things Skye had wanted to do while they were away was make a decision about her bangs. They had grown to her cheeks, and frankly, she was over them, anyway, which was how she found herself in the guest bathroom with a towel thrown over her shoulders, May snipping several inches off of her hair.

“I can’t believe I didn’t know you could cut hair,” Skye said from her perch in front of the mirror.

“Working as a spy means you pick up a few weird skills sometimes,” May responded, focused on the task at hand. “Is this short enough?”

Skye looked at her reflection, trying to decide how she felt about the hair that brushed along her shoulders. “Maybe like another inch or so. And don’t forget the layers!”

“How could I forget the layers? You won’t shut up about them.” May’s voice was light and teasing, and it made Skye feel warm and safe.

“What’s gonna happen to us when we get back?” Skye asked bluntly, too anxious to bother putting it more delicately.

“What do you mean?”

“I don’t know,” Skye lied, uncomfortable. “Are we still gonna be like this,” she motioned a hand between them, vaguely alluding to what she meant. “When we’re back at S.H.I.E.L.D., around the team, and always busy?”

“Well, we’re definitely not going to have time to sit around watching movies every night,” she stated, meeting Skye’s uncertain eyes in the mirror. “But if you’re asking if us being… close,” she said carefully. “Is going to go away, I don’t think so. Why should it?”

Skye shrugged, unable to properly articulate her age-old insecurities. May sighed, putting the scissors down and stepped in front of Skye, cupping her face with her hands.

“You don’t need to worry that I’m going to suddenly stop caring about you just because we’re going back to our normal lives, okay?” May waited for Skye to nod before she continued, “Besides, you’re not getting rid of me that easily.” Skye laughed lightly, and May let go of her, grabbing the scissors and returning to work.

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

She wasn’t totally sure what prompted it. Maybe it was the new haircut, which she was obsessed with, or maybe it was the sight of the Playground coming into view as they landed. Either way, as they finished off their break from reality, Skye turned to May and blurted out,

“Daisy.”

May looked over at her, confused. “What?”

“Daisy. Daisy Johnson,” she repeated, enjoying the way the name made her feel. “That’s my name, or it was supposed to be. It’s the name my parents gave me.” She was surprised by how certain she felt about this decision. “I think it’s the name I want to go by.”

May raised her eyebrows, obviously surprised. She couldn’t blame her. “Really? After everything, you’d rather go by the name they chose for you?”

“Skye was a name I picked out for myself because no one cared enough to give me a real one. Daisy Johnson is the name that my parents gave to me because they wanted me. No matter how things ended up, Daisy Johnson was always loved, always wanted.” She looked over at May again. “That’s what I’m choosing. That part of my parents, of my past.”

May looked at her, a strange look on her face. With a shock, she realized it was pride.

“Daisy,” May said, testing the name out. “I like it.”

**Author's Note:**

> Welp, there it is! If you stuck it out this long, thanks so much! I hope you liked it, and that I did these amazing characters justice. Let me know what you think!


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